1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a large-capacity recording medium, a method of reproducing information from the large-capacity recording medium, a reproducing apparatus for reproducing information from the large-capacity recording medium, a method of recording information in the large-capacity recording medium, and a recording apparatus for recording information in the large-capacity recording medium. In particular, this invention relates to an optical disk on which reproduction information, such as at least one movie, a plurality of selectable languages associated with this movie, a plurality of sub-pictures and a number of audio streams, are recorded at high density thereon and from which selected reproduction information can be reproduced in an interactive environment, a method and an apparatus for selectively reproducing the reproduction information from the optical disk, and a method and an apparatus for recording the reproduction information on the optical disk at high density.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with a progress in data compression technology and high-density recording technology, high-density recording type optical disk has been developed as a recording medium capable of storing a great amount of data. This type of recording medium is able to store not only audio data but also video data as reproduction data, as well as video data and audio data of plural titles. Since this recording medium has a large memory capacity, it can store not only video data of a pre-designated single story or audio data of a single arrangement, but also video data of multiple stories or audio data of multiple arrangements which can be selected by the user. Thus, an interactive environment will be provided in the near future.
In an example of multi-story video data, the user positively selects a scene development of a movie or a program and reproduces selected scenes successively, thereby making it possible that the story is developed diversely according to the user's preference. Specifically, an ordinary movie story has a plot of "introduction," "development," "turn," and "conclusion." For example, the reproduced movie begins with a portion of the story, i.e. a segment story, corresponding to the "introduction." A plurality of segment stories, e.g. two segment stories, are prepared as "development" segment stories. Further, a plurality of segment stories, e.g. two segment stories, are prepared as "turn" segment stories corresponding to each "development" segment story. Thus, four "turn" segment stories are prepared in total. Then, a plurality of segment stories, e.g. two segment stories, are prepared as "conclusion" segment stories corresponding to each "turn" segment story. Thus, eight "conclusion" segment stories are prepared in total. In this example, the user can select a desired segment story at each change point of the story, thus enjoying different scene developments.
Besides, a quiz program may be produced in the multi-story structure. Thereby, a quiz program with different levels of difficulty can be produced. In particular, a quiz program focused on a field of questions in which the user is interested can be produced. In the case of a fortune-telling program, a result of the fortune-telling may be displayed according to "YES/NO" of the user and/or the date of birth of the user. In an example of multi-arrangement audio data, a "solo" sound scene or a "ensemble" sound scene may be selected in a specific movement of orchestra music.
Regarding the recording medium on which the multi-story video data or multi-arrangement audio data is recorded as reproduction data, selection information or branch information for selecting a certain segment story following a preceding subsequent segment story is, in general, not recorded on the medium itself but on special application software. The application software associates the recorded contents with the branch information, and the branch information is selected based on the application software. Thus, an exclusive-use application program is needed for each recording medium. In other words, even if recording media are common, an exclusive-use application program must be developed according to the data recorded on each recording medium.
There is a recording medium of the type in which the branch information or selection information is recorded on the recording medium itself. In this recording medium, branch information or selection information is stored in a specific region of the recording medium. The specific region is always referred to in order to read out the branch information or selection information. In this type of recording medium, a long time may be needed to access the selection information. Besides, when the recorded data is re-recorded on another recording medium and the re-recorded data is reproduced, the branch information or selection information may be lost, resulting in a problem of reproduction.